"An arbitrary succession of more or less irritating sounds"

Friday, 30 April 2010

Quadratic polynomials



"
...the set of complex values of c for which the orbit of 0 under iteration of the complex quadratic polynomial zn+1 = zn2 + c remains bounded. That is, a complex number, c, is in the Mandelbrot set if, when starting with z0 = 0 and applying the iteration repeatedly, the absolute value of zn never exceeds a certain number (that number depends on c) however large n gets.

For example, letting c = 1 gives the sequence 0, 1, 2, 5, 26,…, which tends to infinity. As this sequence is unbounded, 1 is not an element of the Mandelbrot set.

On the other hand, c = i (where i is defined as i² = -1) gives the sequence 0, i, (−1 + i), −i, (−1 + i), −i…, which is bounded and so i belongs to the Mandelbrot set..." [source]

All the shuddering, churning way to the 13-minute epic Twilight / Delay
's arias of feedback, Mandelbrot's Effect / Delay (Highpoint Lowlife) - tipped here the other day - smartly slaloms in & out of a whole set of post-rock tropes.

Not just the "quiet - loud - louder - FUCKING APOCALYPTIC" schema Keung quotes with evident approval or the similar 'prettily chiming/ferociously distorting' one. Its working of a host of crescendoing repetitions & fuzzy warpings add up to rather more than a PS to Explosions in the Sky - thankfully...

In this, HPLL's comment about electronic syntax & language is right on-the-money. Even if the palette is different, the sensibility clearly processes & shapes this more propulsive way.

Blurb:
Mandelbrot is the sometime solo project by Keung Mandelbrot. After the release of 2006's 'All Our Actions Are Constantly Repeated', the original lineup of the band slowly dissolved as each pulled in their own direction. Amidst the changes, Keung found himself focusing more on exploring further the array of 9v devices his guitar was being channelled through, and this tracks on this album slowly came about during that summer.

Each of the four movements recorded were captured in one take - 10 fingers, 6 strings, 18 pedals, and no overdubs, creating a massive pulsing noise that resonates between harmony and dischord, combining influences from David Pajo's seminal 'Papa M' project, to the density of Sunn O))'s bowelshaking sound, yet processed and shaped into the syntax and language of something altogether more electronic sounding.

Album is released digitally, plus in a limited physical run of 100 CDrs, packaged in slimline DVD-r cases.



Mandelbrot >
Nervous / Delay (from Effect / Delay, Highpoint Lowlife)

Mandelbrot Set >
Astronomy and Allied Sciences 1b (from Magnetism, That Electricity.., Highpoint Lowlife)



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